Showing @ Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Fri 07 Feb only @ 18:05
Animation often focuses on the fantastical and the implausible. Here, in a showcase of new work, Seams and Embers does something slightly different, as Claire Lamond uses puppets and a stint at the National Mining Museum to tell the history of the Scottish mining community.
We arrive in a small village, just as a first day dawns for the youngest recruit. Retired miners narrate their experiences as the characters journey into the bowels of Scotland with expressions that are half frightened, half numbed by routine. The voices add a huge sense of authenticity, and are beautifully pitched. The only failure is that the delicate foley effects are lost under the constant speech. Occasional pauses would create a more haunting atmosphere, allowing an ability to drink in the world before us, as metal chinks on mineral.
It’s interesting that Lamond cites the scrappy nature of her puppet’s hands as a fault, as it’s an element that adds a potent humanity. These characters perform hard labour and their hands reflect that, with scabs and callouses aplenty. It brings another layer to a richly textured look; so much so, it’s easy to forget you’re watching puppets at all.